Many domesticated animals (i.e., pets), such as dogs and cats, suffer from poor oral health. To combat this problem, edible pet chew treats have been developed to help clean the animals' mouths. For instance, some currently-available pet chew treats are configured to remove plaque and tartar from an animal's teeth as the animal chews on the treat. However, most currently-available edible pet chew treats are hard, brittle, and have a cylindrical shape. As a result, when provided to an animal, such pets chew treats are prone to break into large, thick pieces, which the animal quickly swallows without adequate chewing. Furthermore, certain types of animals, such as dogs, are prone to quickly swallowing cylindrical-shaped products whole. By quickly swallowing the treats, the treats are not allowed to reside within the animal's mouth long enough to be effective at cleaning the animals' teeth. Additionally, large pieces can easily be gulped (i.e., swallowed without chewing) and can become lodged in the animal's throat, which can cause the animal to choke and even die, or which can otherwise cause damage to or obstruct the animal's digestive tract which can be quite serious. Furthermore, currently-available edible pet chew treats are often difficult for the animal to digest.
In more detail, currently-available pet chew treats function to remove plaque and tartar from an animal's teeth by way of the surface of the pet chew treats scraping on the animals' teeth as the animal chews the treats. In currently-available pet chew treat, the surface of the treat is relatively smooth, which reduces the effectiveness of the treat's ability to clean the teeth. Furthermore, a surface area to volume ratio of currently-available pet chew treats is low, such that a reduced amount of surface area is available for cleaning the animal's teeth. Such a low surface area to volume ratio also reduces the solubility of the treat, thereby reducing the ability of the animal to digest the treats. Furthermore still, entire pet chew treats or large chunks of such pet chew treats can obstruct an animal's airway and/or digestive tract, which causes potential health and wellness issues for the animal.
As such, what is needed is a pet chew treat with a texture that functions to improve oral health of animals, will be much less likely to become lodged in the animals' airway or digestive track, is efficiently digestible, and that promotes the overall health and well-being of the animal.